Talent Show
by Miss Starfire
Summary: Pepper Potts will do anything for shoes, even if that entails entering a talent show her boyfriend Tony and her friend Rhodey think she will never win. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!


**Summary:** Pepper Potts will do anything for shoes, even if that entails entering a talent show her boyfriend Tony and her friend Rhodey think she will never win.

**HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, MY FAITHFUL READERS!**

**Standard disclaimer for all my stories**: My stories are graphic, angsty, frustrating, filled with cliffhangers, drama and foul language. Read at your own risk – medical issues and subsequent bills are not covered by yours truly ;) If you don't like, please don't read. I appreciate reviews and constructive feedback but if you cannot stand the plot, save yourself and me some time and walk away. You don't have to love all IMAA stories :) I don't own IMAA or anything else copyrighted that appears in this story. My stories are better viewed by using the "half screen" option of FFNET

This idea came to me tonight after a weird conversation on Facebook and I just couldn't stop myself from writing it until I finished it. 'Nuff said! We all know how those conversations go!

Anyway, all I'm going to say is for this story is: hehehe…** OOCness awaits!** You've been warned!

* * *

**Talent Show**

Pepper Potts' present pout was adorable despite how mad he knew she was at him; at them, at her two best friends who were currently laughing their asses off at her, their hands on their stomachs and almost rolling on the floor of the hall of the Tomorrow Academy at what she had just said. It was not _that_ farfetched, her idea, if you gave her enough credit – enough credit that they were definitely not even willing to give to her at all.

"Oh, Pep," Tony said after he finally had enough air in his lungs again to speak. "That was so freakin' funny!"

"No kidding!" Rhodey soon joined the discussion and patted the redhead's shoulder in a condescending manner. "Dang! I almost busted my guts there just now. That was a good one, Pepper!"

Pepper narrowed her eyes at them even more and then crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't see what you two find so amusing about this," she said as she pointed at the poster that had started the bouts of uncontrolled laughter just seconds ago. "I'm _dead_ serious about this. I'm so going to enter this competition!"

"Oh, come on, Pepper," her boyfriend of now two months said as he surrounded her shoulders with his left arm and pressed her against him. "You know I like you, but I ain't gonna lie to you. This," he pointed at the poster, "this is seriously _not_ your style."

"What do you mean: not my style?" She asked with a frown and pushed him away from her. "I can totally win this! It's for SHOES for crying out loud!"

"Yeah, Pepper," Rhodey began. "But it's a_ talent_ show, you know? You're supposed to _have_ one in the first place. What talent do you have, other than talking nonstop and without breathing for five minutes, of course?"

"Or sending a million text messages a second WHILE talking nonstop AND having your eyes closed?" Tony chirped with a playful smirk and a shrug.

Her only response was to pinch Rhodey's shoulder with her left hand and smack Tony's stomach with her right hand before she turned in place and began walking away from them. Rhodey and Tony exchanged a repentant look with each other before the inventor nodded and followed his girlfriend down the hall.

"Whoa, Pepper! Wait up, please!"

"Go away, Stark!" She said without even looking back at him but her gait was then interrupted when he went around her, stood in her way and placed his hands on her upper arms.

"Hey, babe, chill! Rhodey and I are just joking, alright? Please, don't be mad."

"Too late for that!" She spat, pushed him out of the way and continued walking. He exhaled in exasperation and rolled his eyes but he again tried to make right by her. Even if they had been dating now since the Makluan invasion had ended, the fact that Pepper was not only his girlfriend but his friend sometimes made him confuse what it was acceptable for him to do as the boyfriend and what was no longer OK for him to do as the friend; such as mocking her shortcomings in front of other friends.

"Come on, Pepper! I'm sorry, OK?" He said to her as he walked next to her. "I'm really sorry. Rhodey and I…it was just a bad joke, OK? Please, _please_ don't be mad."

Pepper suddenly stopped her trek, turned to face him and repeatedly jabbed her right index finger at his chest as she spoke. "It wasn't funny, Tony! And you know what? I'm gonna prove both of you wrong. I'm not only going to enter that competition, I'm going to win it! And then, after you guys accept that I DO have a talent and I accept your REAL apologies, I'm gonna use you both as MULES to carry all the shoes I'm going to buy with that mall gift card prize!"

Despite his best efforts, Tony could barely control the chuckle that suddenly escaped him. He was not even laughing at her anymore, or at the situation for that matter – he was just in awe at how cute his redhead looked when she was pissed off. The ginger, however, took his small smirk and snicker as another sign of disbelief on his part, which earned him another glare from her and an aggressive shove that sent him flying off against the lockers behind him.

"You're gonna eat your words, Tony!" She yelled at him as she walked away and slammed open and close the door to the girls bathroom, leaving the inventor to sigh in disappointment before he walked away from the hall and into class.

xxxXXXxxx

Rhodey opened the door to access the roof he and his friends visited during their free period only to see that Tony was the only one up there as had been the case for the past week. His poor, genius friend had a look of sadness on his face, and was currently pouting as he sat on top of one of the wooden crates that the school stored up there for whatever reason; he did not care enough to find out. Rhodey already knew what his issue was, and the more the inventor sulked, the guiltier Rhodey felt.

"She's still not talking to you?" Rhodey asked as he joined the blue-eyed boy on the crate and sat next to him.

"No," Tony mumbled and angrily threw a piece of chipped wood toward the floor. "She's not answering my calls or my texts either. I stood by her window last night and knocked and knocked and knocked but she didn't even let me know she wasn't even in her room. She's very, very mad."

"Or maybe she broke up with you and hasn't told you about it?" Rhodey said aloud without thinking, making the inventor's eyes widened and his mouth hang.

"What?"

"Or not," Rhodey said and flinched. "I was…I was just talking crap. Don't listen to me."

Tony's face did not change and he then swallowed hard. "Did she tell you that? Did she tell you she wanted to break up with me?"

"No, dude!" Rhodey said with a shake of the head. "She's not talking to me either."

Tony visibly relaxed for a second and then his shoulders sagged again. "She's never forgiving me, Rhodey. She's so gonna break up with me for this."

"That's stupid," Rhodey said with a dismissive shrug. "She's mad, yes, but not spiteful. Besides, she still likes you, Tony. She wouldn't be this mad if she didn't actually like you."

"I guess," he said. "I wish she'd let me apologize to her, though. Or at least respond with an angry text so I know she still cares. Something, you know? Last night I texted her that we had a mission…which, we didn't, of course, and she didn't even respond!"

Rhodey's eyes widened in surprise. "WHAT? She…_Pepper_…she-she IGNORED a mission?"

"Yup," Tony said with despondency. "That's how I know this is bad. Very bad."

"Damn," Rhodey said and then patted his friend's knee. "I'm sorry, man! I feel like this is somehow my fault."

"It IS your fault, jerk!" Tony spat. "I mean, it's both of our faults, but I wouldn't have laughed so hard at her if you hadn't either."

"Yeah, dude, but I'm just her friend. You're the boyfriend…maybe, still…I-I don't know," Rhodey said with a shrug that made Tony groan and hold his head in his hands.

"Great!" The inventor mumbled. "The only girl that has ever liked me for me and I mock her. What the hell is wrong with me?"

"It'll be OK, T. Just keep doing what you're doing and she'll come around…eventually…hopefully before the end of the school year…or by the next leap year."

"Ugh! I don't KNOW what I'm doing Rhodey! For all I know I could be making things worse!"

"You do have a talent for that," Rhodey agreed. "Hey! Maybe you should enter the talent show with that: _Hello, everyone! I'm Tony Stark and when I'm not building armors or fighting crime, I tend to piss the crud out of my girlfriend! Allow me to demonstrate!_ And then you do something stupid and piss her off on stage, win the competition for her and then you can make her happy by getting her the shoe shopping spree gift card she wants."

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Are you serious? Dude, number one: the talent show is for girls only. Number two: I doubt me insulting Pepper in front of the entire crowd is going to win me any points with her; and three: even if I won the damned contest, she would not take the freaking card from me because she'd be too pissed at me about how I won it. Hell, she doesn't even need the fucking card! I can buy her all the shoes she wants!"

Rhodey's eyebrows shot up and a second later Tony stood up straight when he had the same thought that had just crossed Rhodey's mind.

"I can buy her all the shoes she wants! That's it! It's perfect! Rhodey, I'm a motherfucking genius!"

"Yeah, you are! So, what are you waiting for! Go make up with her!"

"YES!" Tony said, jumped from the crate and all but sped to the door. "She's gonna love me for this!"

"She already does!" Rhodey screamed at his friend but he doubted he even heard what he had said with how excited the billionaire was.

xxxXXXxxx

The sound of loud banging hitting the locker next to his made Rhodey close the door, if just to see what the commotion was. He was then taken aback when he saw that the noise was coming from none other than Tony slamming his forehead against the metal contraption as he mumbled curse words he had never heard him say before.

"Whoa! I take it that the shoe shopping idea didn't go too well?"

"It fucking sucked," Tony said with a groan before he pulled his face away from the locker to stare at Rhodey only for his friend to gasp.

"Why the_ heck_ is your cheek red, man?"

"Because she slapped me," he pointed to his swollen face, "Right here!"

"Fudge!" Rhodey said. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Tony began. "I just, you know, stalked her to the cafeteria because she's still not answering my calls."

"And then?"

"And then, and then she glared at me… and I… and I-I-I got really nervous..."

"Oh, brother," Rhodey said, already foreseeing what Tony was about to tell him. The man was a genius and a billionaire, but when he became nervous or was caught in a lie, his quick mind got him in more trouble that it got him out of. "And then?"

"Well, I-I said that I was sorry, and that I missed her, and that I wanted to make up…but then…but then…" He sighed.

"Then, what?"

"Well, she, uhm, she wouldn't stop glaring at me! She even crossed her arms and started tapping her foot on the floor…and I…ugh…I…I got my words mixed up!"

"_How_ mixed up?"

Tony rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I wanted to say that I was sorry for making fun of her wanting to compete in the talent show, and that she didn't have to go through the trouble of getting ready for the contest because I could buy her however many shoes she'd want…"

"But?"

"But what came out was more like: I'm sorry that you don't have a talent…and, why do you even bother with the competition…and-and, it's easier for me to just _buy_ you the shoes…"

Rhodey face palmed himself and Tony again slammed his forehead against the locker.

"Yeah, that blew," Rhodey said with a shake of the head. "That totally blew."

"Now she's really NEVER going to forgive me."

"I wouldn't," Rhodey said and again flinched. "I mean…ugh, whatever, you're screwed."

Tony only sighed.

xxxXXXxxx

Three days later, James Rhodes walked inside the Makluan Temple to find Tony Stark hard at work on the floor. At first glance, it appeared as if the genius was working on a new invention or design, but the closer Rhodey got to the location of the billionaire, the more he realized things were not as they seemed.

Instead of power tools he found rulers, yard sticks, scissors, tape, and even glue sticks. Instead of drafting paper he found poster board paper of different colors and sizes and instead of finding a Tony stained with oil or dirt, the inventor was covered in dried glue and glitter.

"What the FUCK?"

"Hey, Rhodey!" Tony said with a bright smile. "I didn't hear you come in, man!"

"What IS going on? What the hell is all this stuff and why do you have glitter on your face?"

"It's still there?" Tony asked as he rubbed his face with his glitter-covered hands and ended up spreading it even more. "Is it gone now?"

Rhodey just shrugged. "Sure?"

"Cool!" Tony replied and returned his attention to his project on the floor. Rhodey walked closer over to where Tony lay and frowned.

"Seriously, what are you doing, Tony?"

"What I should've done a long time ago!"

"What? Turn to arts and crafts to deal with pain?"

"No, dumbass!" Tony spat. "I'm going to make Pepper forgive me, once and for all!"

"Again, I ask: what?"

"I'm going to do the one thing she doesn't expect of me."

"Turn gay?"

"NO!" Tony yelled and threw a glue stick at his friend. "I'm going to go to the talent show tonight to see her performance and show her my support with this!" He said proudly as he stood up and showed Rhodey the banner he had just spent hours making all by himself.

"Huh," Rhodey nodded in agreement and rubbed his chin with his right hand. "That's actually not a bad idea."

"I know!" Tony said. "I think the fact that I made this all by myself instead of paying someone else to do it or bought it already made, AND the fact that I'm gonna go cheer for her will be enough for her to at least start talking to me again. What do you think? Pretty clever, huh?"

"Yeah, dude, that's not bad," Rhodey began. "There's only one problem, though."

"What problem? There is no problem! This idea is perfect!"

"Yeah, the idea is great and all, but you misspelled her name."

"I, what?" Tony said and then looked down at the banner to see that he was missing one of the two middle P's of her nickname. "Oh, FUCK!"

xxxXXXxxx

Banner-less and still a victim of never-ending glitter, Tony Stark had shown up at the talent show that had cost him nearly two weeks of time without his girlfriend around. Rhodey, knowing that he was at fault as well, had accompanied Tony to the mall where the competition would start in a few minutes. Since they had arrived late, the two boys had been left with no option but to sit at the very back of the place, but since the platform was in the middle of the food court and two wide screens were made available on either side of it, seeing the performances would not be a problem.

"This sucks," Tony grumbled. "I spent hours making that banner for Pepper and now I have nothing to show for it AND she won't even know I'm here because we're so far back!"

"Relax, man," Rhodey said. "Just make sure that you pay attention to whatever she does and then after the show go look for her, tell her how awesome she was even if she sucks, and apologize."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"And if that doesn't work, then I think it's safe for you to call yourself single again."

"Ugh!"

Tony's groan was swallowed by the masses when the lights turned off and everyone began to cheer. A single spotlight appeared on the platform and seconds later a male presenter appeared on stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome all to the first, annual Twin Pines Mall Talent Show!"

Tony and Rhodey forced themselves to clap with the crowd even though they were both more worried about Pepper not showing up to the competition after all. What if she had backed down at the last moment? What if she had decided not to go through with it at all? What if instead of being here she was back at home, crying because her boyfriend did not believe she had any talent at all? It was not as if Tony really believed she had no talent, but he really did not see her as the type of girl that would put on make-up, a pink dress and then act girly on stage. It was just not her; it just was not the girl he had fallen in love with.

If she did not show up tonight, how else was Tony ever going to find a way for her to forgive him?

_I should've never made fun of her! She's so gonna dump my ass!_

"This first year is filled with A LOT of talent," the presenter continued. "Two-hundred fifty, beautiful ladies had to audition for _days_ to gain one of the twenty spots available for this competition, and I have to say that it was FIERCE! Unfortunately, not everyone made it here, but the ones that did promise us a great night!"

"Twenty spots?" Tony spat. "They only had_ twenty _spots?"

"Dang," Rhodey scrunched his nose. "That's already not good."

"Oh, man!"

"But, without further ado, allow me to start the show with our very first competitor: Miss Lorraine Bates!"

xxxXXXxxx

One by one the girls appeared on stage, showed their talent, wowed the crowd and then made way for the next one. The names of the competitors were not released until they were about to go on stage, which meant that Rhodey and Tony had already sat through nineteen girls that were not the one they had come to see. Tony had already tried calling and texting Pepper several times to no avail, and he could only hope that she was not answering because she was too busy getting ready to get on stage.

"This is it, Rhodey," Tony said as he breathed hard. "If this girl is not Pepper, I'm going to suit up and go to her house."

"To do what, exactly?"

"To knock on her window until she opens it or kicks me out."

"And if she's not even home?"

"Then I'll sleep outside her door until Mr. Potts finds me there and lets me talk to her."

"So, you plan to die at her doorstep?"

"Oh, shut the fuck up!" Tony spat and was about to rant some more but when the spotlight appeared again and he heard the presenter begin to announce the last competitor, he closed his mouth and glued his eyes to the stage.

"And last but not least, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: Miss Pepper Potts!"

Tony held his breath when she walked on stage. She was wearing a long pink robe with a hoodie that covered her entire body and her head, which was bowed forward. She took slow steps toward the center of the platform and as soon as she stopped walking, the Wizard of Oz's version of the song "Somewhere over the Rainbow" began playing in the background.

Both Rhodey, Tony and everyone else that was present was surprised to see that the ginger was not showing her face or appearing to do anything at all, and for a moment they wondered if she had gotten the stage fright and had frozen up.

"Oh, crap," Rhodey muttered when the song continued playing without her doing anything else. "Crud, crud, crud!"

"Oh, Pep," Tony said, his heart going out to her, truly fearing that his girlfriend had just walked to her immediate public humiliation, execution and death.

_Somewhere over the rainbow,  
Skies are blue,  
And the dreams that you dare to dream,  
Really do come true..._

At that very moment the song stopped with a scratching sound and suddenly a different, more upbeat tune began playing in the background, completely replacing the previous innocent tune that been blaring just seconds ago. Neither Tony nor Rhodey recognized the song right away, but when Pepper started swaying her hips to the rhythm and began slowly shedding the pink robe, all the two boys could do – along with every other male in the crowd – was to gasp.

_I know you like me (I know you like me)  
I know you do (I know you do)  
That's why whenever I come around  
She's all over you_

Pepper finished shedding the robe altogether to reveal the completely different outfit she was wearing underneath before she threw the robe at the cheering crowd, and all Rhodey could do for his friend right now was to slowly push his jaw closed with his hand.

_And I know you want it (I know you want it)  
It's easy to see (it's easy to see)  
And in the back of your mind  
I know you should be on with me_

In perfect tune with the lyrics and beat, Pepper began her both sensual and coy dance that quickly made all of the guys present to begin cat-calling and chanting her name. It really did not help that she was wearing a very revealing version of Dorothy's outfit from the Wizard of Oz, and that even though it was a one-piece, the corset-like dress still showed some of her cleavage and shoulders, and the skirt barely covered her bottom assets. She also wore thigh-high, white stockings and five inch, black heels. Her hair was not long enough to tie in pigtails, so she had opted to curl it instead and it bounced on her shoulders with every move she made.

"That's…that's…that's Pepper?!" Tony spat.

"You holy fucking, lucky son of a bitch!" Rhodey said.

_Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me  
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a freak like me  
Don't cha  
Don't cha  
Don't you wish your girlfriend was raw like me  
Don't you wish your girlfriend was fun like me  
Don't cha (haah aah)  
Don't cha_

Suddenly and from one side of the stage a chair was throw her way and the redhead caught it without issue. She then used the new prop that had been handed to her to her benefit and she continued her rehearsed dance as flawlessly as it could be.

_Fight the feeling (fight the feeling)  
Leave it alone (leave it alone)  
Cause if it ain't love it just ain't enough  
To leave a happy home (oh, oh)  
Let's keep it friendly (let's keep it friendly)  
You have to play fair (you have to play fair, yeah)  
See, I don't care  
But I know she ain't gon' wanna share (oh, oh)  
Hmmmm..._

"Man, she's HOT!" A guy standing next to Tony said and the inventor's head snapped to face the man.

"Hey! Stop it! Don't you look at her!" Tony said and tried to cover the man's eyes.

"Hey, man! What the hell? Let me see!"

"No!" Tony said again but then Rhodey pulled him away from the gawking guy the blue-eyed boy had almost punched in the face.

"Calm down, Tony!" Rhodes said. "It's just a show!"

"Yeah, but…"

"But nothing!" Rhodey said. "And pay attention to her, now!"

_Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me (oh)  
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a freak like me (like me)  
Don't cha - don't cha baby  
Don't cha - alright, sing  
Don't you wish your girlfriend was raw like me (raw)  
Don't you wish your girlfriend was fun like me (big thrills)  
Don't cha (haah aah)_

"Yeah, I do!" The same man from before yelled. "Do you want to be my girlfriend, Pepper?"

Tony narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists but his rage party did not get far when Rhodey smacked him on the back of the head to get his attention once more. "Dude, seriously! Chill the fuck out!"

"But…but…"

"But NOTHING!"

_See, I know she loves you (I know she loves you)  
I understand (I understand)  
I'd probably be just as crazy about you  
If you were my own man  
Maybe next lifetime (maybe next lifetime)  
Possibly (possibly)  
Until then, oh friend you're secret is  
Safe with me  
(Hot!)_

As the dance was coming to an end, Tony decided to ignore the comments he was hearing about what some of these men wanted to do to his girlfriend and just concentrated on watching Pepper finish her presentation, which thankfully for him did not have much more to go.

_Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me (oh)  
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a freak like me (like me)  
Don't cha - don't cha baby  
Don't cha - alright, sing  
Don't you wish your girlfriend was raw like me (raw)  
Don't you wish your girlfriend was fun like me (big thrills)  
Don't cha (haah aah)  
Don't cha  
(Ah!)  
(Ah!)_

Once the song ended and Pepper stopped dancing, she waved and smiled at the cheering multitude. Her name was the only thing that could be heard for several seconds and once the presenter came on to the stage, the ginger had no choice but to thank the audience before she walked her way out of view.

Tony was still trying to recover from what he had just seen, and Rhodey was still to believe that Tony was just that damned lucky. Neither of them said anything else for a while, and moments later their hearts began racing again when the announcer stated the judges had decided who had won.

Sadly for Pepper, she missed the first place by one point.

xxxXXXxxx

Pepper walked down from the stage, completely unaware that her two friends had just witnessed her performance and saddened that despite her efforts of the past two weeks, she had not won the $1000 shoe shopping spree gift card. She had gotten a small trophy and the chance to dance on stage, but her goal had been to arrive to school on Monday with the gift card in hand to shove it all over Tony and Rhodey's faces.

_Great_, she thought with sadness. _Now they're really going to make fun of me._

It was difficult for her sometimes to have only guy friends. She was certain that if at least one girl was around – one that did not hate her for dating Tony Stark – she would have had a lot more fun preparing for this contest and perhaps had had fewer headaches thinking about how Tony and Rhodey had so shameless poked fun at her for even wanting to participate.

Tony and Rhodey just did not understand her sometimes, and although she could not blame them for it since she acted as everything but a girl while around them, that did not mean she did not want to be treated like a lady sometimes; most especially by her clueless yet loving boy genius.

_I don't know even now why we're going out in the first place_, she mused. _Other than kissing and calling me 'babe,' he treats me no differently than he did before. He probably doesn't even like me that much!_

She sighed loudly, her head down and she held back a groan. She then reached for her gym bag, took out her phone and finally turned it on only to see dozens of unread text messages and voicemails invade her screen, and she could not help to sigh again. _Probably Tony._

She had been mad at him and Rhodey for only a few days but she had also avoided their texts and calls for longer than that to circumvent the talks about what her talent would be. She needed the time to practice as well so that she would not make a fool of herself on stage, and it had definitely not helped the cause when Tony had tried to make it up to her by telling her she had no talent at all. That had almost made her want to quit her efforts altogether but she had held on.

_They just don't really know me_, she thought to herself while her eyes focused on the text messages she had received as she read them all one by one only to then stop at a particular one that made her jaw drop and her forehead slam against someone in front of her.

"Sorry!" She said immediately and steadied herself. She then looked up at the tall, blonde man that she had just bumped into and gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm really sorry."

The man shrugged and smiled back at her and when she tried going around him he moved over to block her path. She gave him another smile and tried moving on to the next side but he repeated his move and when she tried it a third time and he did it again, she frowned.

"Hey, do you mind? I'm trying to walk here."

"You're hot," the man said without any qualms. "Wanna go fuck in my car?"

Her jaw nearly dropped again. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," the man said and tried to grab her but she pulled her arm away. "You. Me. Car. Fuck."

"Uhm. No. Thank. You." She said and tried walking away again but the man grabbed her by her forearms and shook her violently.

"Don't you try to play innocent with me, babe. I saw your dance. You're naughty, aren't you? You like it rough?"

"Dude, seriously, let me go or I'll…"

"Or you'll what? Scream my name?"

"Ugh! You jerk!" She said before she stomped on his right foot with her pointy heel, kicked him on the shin with her other foot and made him groan in pain. She took advantage of the distraction and began running away from the guy but he quickly turned around and tried grabbing her again, speeding up his pace when he realized she was fast.

She stared back at the guy over her shoulder and took in a deep breath to scream but her attempt was halted when someone grabbed her by her waist to stop her steps. Her immediate response was to try to free herself from the tight grip but when she heard the voice of the man that had just caught her, she stopped fighting him and looked up.

"Are you OK, Pep?" Tony asked her with concern even though his eyes were glaring at the man in front of him. "Did he hurt you?"

"Tony?"

"Did he _hurt_ you?" He asked again, this time sparing her a glance to look at her up and down. "What did he do?"

"Hey, man!" The guy who was now approaching them – and Tony recognized from the stands – yelled at them. "Go find your own easy fuck. This one's mine!"

Pepper's eyes widened when she saw what she had labeled as Tony's manslaughter face appear and before he could inflict some major pain on the idiot that had tried to take her away she turned around, pulled on his shirt and kissed him. The man was taken aback by the action and stared back and forth between the kissing couple and the third man that had just suddenly caught up with them and frowned.

"What the hell? Who's that jerk?"

"_That's_ the boyfriend," Rhodey said as he recovered his breath and pointed at Tony. "And he also happens to be Tony Stark."

The man's eyes widened, and when Pepper finally broke the kiss and Tony returned his attention to him and the blonde recognized the billionaire, he gulped. "Uhm, sorry, Iron Man…I…uhm…I didn't know that was your girlfriend…uhm…I was just joking and I…uhm…"

Tony glared at the man once more and faked making an offensive move towards the blonde, which caused the man to piss in his pants and then run away screaming that he did not want to die. The trio held back their chuckles until they were again alone and once they knew no one would pay attention to them, they busted out laughing aloud.

Once their laughter died off and they took in enough air to speak again, Rhodey was the first one to say anything at all. "Damn, Pepper, that was just awesome! I didn't you know could dance like that!"

"Oh, really?" She asked with a raised brow. "You mean to say that you didn't know that I had _other_ talents besides fast talking and texting?"

Rhodey and Tony visibly flinched at her words. "I'm sorry, Pepper," Rhodey began. "I really shouldn't have made fun of you. I'm really, really sorry."

"Me neither, Pep," Tony said, head hung. "_Especially_ not me, actually. I'm really sorry, Pepper. I really am."

Pepper smirked. "You're just sorry because now you want me to do that again and only for you, but you can forget it, Tony."

Rhodey snickered at Tony's obviously disappointed face but once Pepper glared at him, Rhodey immediately stopped laughing and made a zipping gesture over his mouth.

"But I still forgive you both, you nerds," Pepper shrugged. "It's not like I won like I said I would anyway, right?"

"Only here you didn't, and only by one point." Rhodey said. "Because I think you'll win first place in Tony's dreams for the next few…_years_…right?"

It was Tony's turn to glare at Rhodey and the man laughed aloud as he lifted his hands to the sides of his head in a peace-making gesture. "Fine! I'm gonna get lost. See you outside, you two. Don't take too long making out, alright? I'm hungry."

The pair waited for their friend to disappear in the crowd and when they felt they were alone again, Pepper smiled and pointed at Tony's face.

"What?"

"You have glitter on your face."

"WHAT?" He said and began rubbing his cheeks all over with his hands. "Dammit, Rhodey! He said I didn't have any more on!"

Pepper laughed aloud at his reaction and then poked his right cheek with her index finger. "So, what's the story? How did it even get there?"

"Uuuh…" Tony cleared his throat, pulled on his collar and looked left and right. "I, uhm, I stepped in glitter…with my face…on the…floor?"

"Riiiight." Pepper chuckled and pulled on the front of his shirt to make him come closer to her. "Are you sure that's what it is? Are you sure it's not because you were making a banner for me for tonight and misspelled my name?"

Tony's eyes widened like saucers. "How…HOW do you _know_ about that?"

"Rhodey texted me the pictures. I was looking at them when I bumped into that guy that you scared the crap out of just now."

"What? Ugh! That jerk!"

Pepper laughed again when Tony sighed in defeat and his shoulders deflated in reluctant acceptance. "Fine, yes, I _was_ making you a banner but only because I was trying to show you that I was…that I _am_ sorry for making fun of you…and to tell you that I've really missed you. And that…and that I…and that I love you, Pep."

The redhead exhaled miserably and lowered her gaze for a moment only for her face to be lifted by the chin with his hand. He gave her a questioning look as he had expected her to be more excited about the prospect of finally hearing him say those three little words to her and she just shrugged in response. "What is it, Pep? Is it…is it that, uhm, if…if you don't feel the same that's OK. I…I can wait…"

"It's not that, Tony," she said with a shake of the head. "It's just…It's just that I don't think you mean it; at least not in the way you think you do, no offense."

"What?" He was taken aback. "What do you mean? Of course I mean it, Pepper! I mean it in the way it should be meant! What makes you think that I don't?"

"Well," she sighed. "Dating you and just being friends with you haven't really been THAT different, you know? I mean, I don't expect a proposal or anything like that, but I thought things would change a little between us, you know?"

"You mean, like, more…couple-ish stuff?"

"Yeah, I guess. I'm not even sure myself, but sometimes I feel like we aren't really dating and that you'd be just as happy with just being my friend and nothing more."

"Well, I would be happy to just be your friend," he began. "But I'm even happier to be your boyfriend. I…" he groaned. "I'm not really good at this, Pep. I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to do but…but I know that you make me feel different than when I'm with anyone else. I…I don't think it's just friendship. I mean, there IS friendship there, of course, but I don't think I'd feel this way about another girl that was my friend. I…I really like you, Pepper. And I do think that I love you, too."

Pepper's eyes looked away from him briefly as she thought of all the efforts he had made so far to make it up to her, up to and including the misspelled banner, and she could not help the smile that graced her face. Maybe Tony did see her as more than just a friend, and maybe he was starting to fall in love with her. Maybe he did have strong feelings for her, and maybe he was really just that oblivious and inexperienced in relationships to know how to show it in a way that left her with no doubts.

Maybe Tony Stark did love her after all.

She finally looked at him again, and when her eyes landed on the glitter on his face and she remembered the picture of Tony trying desperately to fix the misspelled banner to no avail, her smile widened even more. Tony was not sure what to make of her smile, but when she pulled him down to her face to kiss him and whispered that she loved him too, he knew that everything he had done for her had been worth their while.

And that was the first time of many that Tony Stark told Pepper Potts how much he loved her.

* * *

**A/N:** So, what do you think? Is it nice to see Tony and Pepper have a happy ending without so many issues in one of my stories, for once? Check Pepper's outfit in the link via my profile. This is the first and possibly only time I'll ever write something like this, and no I don't think that just because a woman expresses her sexuality like this that it means that she's a whore or that men have the right to treat her as such. Review if you liked! Oh! And did anyone catch the references to Back to the Future? Happy V-Day, everyone!


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